Grassroots and environmental groups directory

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Australian Marine Conservation Society

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is the voice for Australia's ocean wildlife. We are an independent charity, staffed by a committed group of professional and passionate scientists, educators and advocates who have defended Australia's oceans for over 45 years. Our paid and volunteer staff work every day on behalf of the community to protect our ocean wildlife. AMCS works on the big issues concerning the sea. We work to recover our threatened species, stop overfishing and create marine national parks, places in the sea where our wildlife is safe from harm.

Every little action makes an ocean of difference for our marine wildlife. Send a letter to your local politician, write a letter to the editor, raise some funds, sign our online petitions, volunteer or help spread the word for our ocean wildlife. Together we can change the world, starting today

Australian Nuclear Free Alliance

Formed in 1997, the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance brings together Aboriginal people and relevant NGOs concerned about existing or proposed nuclear developments in Australia, particularly on Aboriginal homelands. The Alliance provides a forum for sharing of knowledge, skills and experience. It is an opportunity to come together and find strength through our shared aims to protect country and culture from nuclear developments. The Alliance helped to build the successful campaign to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory, and more recently, a proposed national nuclear waste dump in South Australia. Currently, Aboriginal communities face a wave of uranium exploration, several proposed new uranium mines, and a proposed national nuclear waste dump.

Contact the ANFA or have a look on the website to find a local group campaigning for a nuclear free Australia and get involved.

Australian Student Environment Network

The Australian Student Environment Network is the network of student environment groups from around Australia committed to building grassroots movements for change. We actively work for environmental and social justice through transformational and empowering collective action on a range of critical ecological and social issues. We recognise that Aboriginal sovereignty was never ceded, and work in solidarity with Aboriginal struggles. ASEN organise an annual national environment conference called Students of Sustainability, a national skillshare and local and are campaigning nationally on climate change, divestment from fossil fuels and exposing the truth about the mining industry.

There are lots of ways to get active on environmental justice issues, from joining your local campus collective to organising a national event or skillshare in your city to producing great content for our blog or magazine. There’s something for everyone and great opportunities to learn.

Australian Wildlife Protection Council

Australian Wildlife Protection Council established the National Kangaroo Campaign in 1992 which has grown to incorporate the wider international community. AWPC coordinates many campaigns to bring an end to the commercial kangaroo killing industry. Kangaroos are under enormous pressure from both the commercial kangaroo industry and the rural sector and they need as much support as they can get. AWPC also campaigns for koalas, dingos, possums and Tasmania devils.

Please help us to keep helping our precious Fauna, Membership of the A.W.P.C. is $20.00 (AUS) ( $10 Pensioner/student ) per year which includes 4 Issues of 'A Voice for Wildlife'. Our Annual General Meeting is held each year in June. All are welcome.

Australian Youth Climate Coalition

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition is building a generation wide movement to solve the climate crisis. We believe that the only way to solve the climate crisis is through a groundswell of support and momentum that is powerful enough to inspire the change we need and hold decision-makers to account. This will require thousands of people committed to changing hearts and minds and willing to take deep action. That’s why since 2007 we’ve helped thousands of young Australians take action in their schools, their universities, and their communities, and take part in campaigns that put climate change in the national spotlight.

The AYCC now has more than 80,000 members, 100 local groups, and more than 500 regular volunteers. Contact your state or territory coordinator, find your local group and get involved. AYCC holds regular social and campaign events, everyone is welcome.

Avaaz

Avaaz is only five years old but has exploded to become the globe's largest and most powerful online activist network with over 36 million members last check. Avaaz empowers people from all walks of life to take action on pressing global, regional and national issues, from corruption and poverty to conflict and climate change. The Avaaz model of internet organising allows thousands of individual efforts, however small, to be rapidly combined into a powerful collective force. The Avaaz community campaigns in 15 languages, served by a core team on 6 continents and thousands of volunteers. Avaaz creates change through petitions, funding media campaigns and direct actions, emailing, calling and lobbying governments, and organising "offline" protests and events.

All you have to do to join is type your email in the join box. Get action alerts, sign global petitions or start your own.

AYCC Seed

In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are at the forefront of climate change, and as young people it’s our generation with the most at stake. It’s our communities on the frontline who need to be at the forefront of change; leading the solutions and building a society that is healthier, cleaner, more just and puts people before profits. That’s why we launched Seed: Australia’s first Indigenous youth ­led climate network. We are building a movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people for climate justice with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Our vision is for a just and sustainable future with strong cultures and communities, powered by renewable energy.

Are you an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young person who wants to be a part of building a more just and sustainable world? Our movement is growing all across the country and we want you to be a part of it! Get in touch online to join the movement.

Ballarat Animal Advocates Association

Ballarat Animal Advocates Association campaigns to enhance and protect the welfare of animals in the Ballarat region by using various peaceful means. This includes raising awareness in schools, businesses, community groups and government bodies in the Ballarat region; alert the public to local maltreatment; and assisting state, national and international animal protection groups in their campaigns to end all animal exploitation, cruelty, pain, suffering, unnecessary confinement and stress.

BAAA provides support for a vegetarian and cruelty free life, including recipes and a local restaurant guide. Email BAAA to find out more and get involved.

Bambara for National Park

Bambara, meaning "Forest" is around 180 acres of privately owned land (main road is public) which includes a known Aboriginal Songline and is totally surrounded by Brisbane Water National Park and hundreds of sacred Aboriginal engravings, drawings and rock paintings. The main owners of the land have Bambara for sale and have said they are willing to sell to the Government to have the land included in the National Park, but so far the offers by the Government for the main lots have been miniscule and have been rejected by the owners. Over the years, 14 separate development applications have been lodged. The local Council (Gosford) are on record as being committed to bringing Bambara into National Parks, that coupled with the fact that this is largely a State Government issue, we need to hold both of them accountable to their commitments.

Our group strives to be positive, upbeat and pro-active with a strong emphasis placed on individuals taking action, not just suggesting ways for others to do so. Get involved!

Beyond Zero Emissions

Beyond Zero Emissions is a research and education organisation known for its work designing and implementing a zero emissions economy for Australia. Its goal is to transform Australia from a 19th century fossil fuel based, emissions intensive, economy to a 21st century renewable-energy-powered clean-tech economy. Through the Zero Carbon Australia (ZCA) research project, BZE is encouraging climate change policy that is in line with the latest science. By sharing this research with thousands of Australians via its public engagement program, BZE is engaging, educating and inspiring the community with real solutions to climate change. In partnership with the University of Melbourne’s Energy Institute, BZE has published the Stationary Energy Plan, a fully costed transition plan for getting Australia to zero emissions in ten years using commercially available technology. Research in progress includes zero carbon buildings, transport with High Speed Rail, land use for carbon storage, industrial processes and export industries.

You can get involved with BZE by coming along to the regular discussion night, or volunteering. Volunteer opportunities are diverse, can evolve with the volunteer and be carried out as an internship.

Biomassacre

Biomassacre is a campaign site to stop the logging industry transitioning into burning forests for fuel when the woodchips industry stalls. The logging, woodchipping and energy industries are poised to unleash plans to use native forests to produce electricity, and to convert forests into liquid bio-fuels. We can’t afford to trash our forests for bioenergy. Our precious forests must be protected for wildlife, water and the air we breathe. Biomassacre is raising awareness of this issue and making sure the label "renewable energy" is not applied to forest destruction.

Sign the online petition, keep up to date with the latest developments and take part in actions as they arise.

BirdLife Australia

BirdLife Australia is the place for everyone to gather together as a united force and work towards a sustainable future for our native birds. Our work with Australian birds stretches back over 100 years. BirdLife Australia's primary objective is to achieve improvements in the state of Australia’s birds by mitigating the main threats to selected taxa and assemblages. This means tackling the threats birds face. We do this through our involvement in conservation science, advocacy efforts and through over 30 projects including the creation of a bird database and atlas, local protection programs for nesting shore birds, mapping of important bird areas, surveys and many more.

You can take part in our annual congress and campout or conservation forum, or become involved with citizen science through our online bird databases. These projects are a way for you to contribute your observations of native birds to an ever-growing collection of bird observations that tracks, records and shares biodiversity knowledge.

Boomerang Alliance

The Boomerang Alliance was formed in 2004 with the aim of a zero waste society. Our first target was packaging, in particular beverage containers. We have also successfully campaigned for a national electronic waste recycling program (involving all brands) and are watching moves towards waste from energy very closely. Our initial membership has grown to 27 national and state environment groups.

If your group is campaigning for a zero waste future, get in touch to collaborate.

Bridging the Divide

Bridging the Divide promotes better understanding, clearer communication, and stronger social ties between urban-based and regional / rural-based Australians. We aim to establish and maintain long-term communication and support networks linking rural-, regional- and urban-based Australians around issues of health and social justice, as we believe that that bridging the urban-rural divide at grassroots level is an urgent requirement for a sustainable Australia. Our activities include fact-finding city-country bus tours and networking events; facilitation of independent health and environmental monitoring in rural and regional areas; and rban-rural communication and social activities.

Whether you’re already passionate about bringing the bush and the ‘burbs closer together, or simply want to follow us for a while to find out more, we offer a level of involvement to suit most interests and schedules, including: a mailing list, membership, tours and events, surveys and volunteer opportunities.

Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association

As the name suggests the purpose of the Bulga Milbrodal Progress Association is to improve local facilities and the environment for the residents and visitors. We now find ourselves pitted against a huge multinational mining company, Rio Tinto and a complicet NSW State Government. After two High Court decisions in Bulga's favour we now find the planning laws have been changed in favour of BIG COAL. Local residents are faced with polluted air and water, ill health due to excessive levels of dust, noise, vibration and stress. Our properties are unsaleable! If these mine expansions are approved our village and the world unique and precious Warkworth Sands Woodland (WSW) will be destroyed.We have 5 weeks to act.

We require qualified people to undertake a fauna survey of the WSW. Contact the NSW Planning Minister Pru Goward and the Premier Mike Baird to protest the changes made to the State Environmental Planning Policy and to reinstate a community's right to a merit based appeal of a decision of the Planning Assessment Commission. Submit an objection to the proposed development.

Burger Off

Tecoma (Pop. 2189) is a peaceful village in the Dandenong Ranges. McDonalds lodged a planning application which met with over 1,100 objections (more than 50% of the entire population of the township) relating to traffic, litter, noise and local amenity issues. The Shire of Yarra Ranges council agreed and UNANIMOUSLY rejected the proposal. McDonalds took the application to VCAT. Despite over 300 local residents putting forward detailed objections, VCAT saw in McDonalds favour and granted them planning permission for a 24 hour drive through ‘restaurant’. The Dandenong Ranges are famed throughout Australia, and are a popular weekend destination for many Melbournites. Tourists visit these hills to experience life away from suburbia, away from mass development, noise and pollution. They often drive up for the day and enjoy the bush, the scenery, the clean air, and the charming locals.

Help Tecoma stop this inappropriate development before it’s too late. Join an action group to help organise the campaign, join the blockade and show your support online.

Bush Heritage Australia

Bush Heritage Australia protect ecosystems by buying and managing land that contributes to biodiversity and the protection of threatened species. BHA acquire land through purchase, gift or bequest. Because of the help of our generous supporters, BHA currently own and manage over 35 reserves throughout Australia, covering around a million hectares. The Bush Heritage Ecological Outcomes Monitoring (EOM) program is breaking new ground in improving our understanding of the Australian landscape and how our actions affect it, either positively or negatively. Bush Heritage builds vital partnerships with Indigenous people who are connected with our reserves, and traditional landowners throughout Australia.

You can get involved with volunteer work to support land management and infrastructure programs, donor care, administration and research. Or come and see what we're protecting - each year we offer guided tours and camping opportunities at reserves all around Australia.

Cairns and Far North Environment Centre

CAFNEC acts as conservation council for the region from Cardwell north to Torres Strait and from the east coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics World Heritage Areas are included. Collaboration with other conservation organisations on environmental issues of state and national importance has become increasingly important. Some of our main functions include: campaigning for the FNQ environment – everything from grass roots activism to political lobbying at a local, State and Federal level; representing environmental interests in the Far North region to tourism, agricultural/industry; sponsoring grants for projects and research on matters relating to the region’s environment; and maintaining an easily accessible community library and resource centre with materials relating to environmental issues.

There are many ways you can help out with our campaigns – from office administration to research, media and promotions to event logistics. Volunteers also gain valuable experience and skills in campaigning, running events and various other areas. Join the new Marine Response Team and help protect our fish, dolphins, dugongs, turtles and corals from a a daunting range of threats. Email us or give us a call. Thank you. We can’t wait to meet you

Canberra Environment Centre

CEC works directly with the community to ensure a better environment for the ACT through targeted education, information and practical application. We recognise that a healthy and vibrant community is much more able to take care of itself and its environment than a fragmented one. Our projects support the community to nourish itself and the environment together, and to sustain themselves into the future. Our work is underpinned by the Earth Charter.

Come along to our workshops or book the centre for your own environment group or project. Our facilities include a large meeting room and library, smaller meeting room, fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. We are on the scenic lake bike path, close to two bus stops and have off-street parking.

Carbon Arts

Carbon Arts is an arts organisation that is working to facilitate an increased role for artists in generating awareness and action on climate change. Straddling the arts, economics, science, and technology, our projects foster innovation and dialogue between disciplines and the public as a means to address contemporary environmental challenges. We do this through targeted and timely public art commissions, events, workshops, exhibitions and research.

“At the heart of our practice is the belief that creativity is essential in making the transition to a more sustainable society, and that the journey should be playful, fun and rewarding.” – Jodi Newcombe, Director Carbon Arts.

Central Victorian Biolinks Alliance

CVB is creating strong community-driven ways to re-connect isolated areas of bushland and strengthen natural processes like nutrient cycles and gene flow through collaborative nature conservation across the whole of central Victoria.These “biolinks” cushion native plants and wildlife against climate change and will deliver large-scale conservation outcomes. Central Victoria is a crucial region for nature conservation, as it sits at the southern end of the Great Divide and spans from drier northern plains across the woodlands and forests of the divide to cooler, more southerly hills, gorges and grasslands.

The Alliance is currently comprised of 12 member landcare networks, conservation management networks and environment groups extending from the Grampians across to the Australian Alps and from the Dividing Ranges to the Murray River. If you're a local environment group, contact us to become part of the alliance.

Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions

ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) aims to be the world's leading research centre for solving environmental problems and for evaluating the outcomes of environmental actions. We will benefit environmental science, policy and management across Australia and around the world by solving complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in a rapidly changing and uncertain world. CEED commenced in 2011 with funding from the Australian Research Council. The need for the Centre is based on the premise that in Australia and around the world, biodiversity and environmental problems have not been property formulated and that mistakes have been made in allocating scarce resources.

Despite the planet facing the sixth mass extinction of species, most conservation management is not evaluated or efficient. CEED is providing international leadership in tackling complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world.

Take a look at our training calendar, attend our bi-annual conference and track conferences around the world on our global calendar.

CERES Community Environment Park

CERES (the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) is a community environment project that initiates and supports environmental sustainability and social equity with an emphasis on cultural richness and community participation. The site has displays and functional demonstrations on a range of environmental issues to show just what can be achieved at household, community and global levels. Some of the things you'll find on site include: an organic cafe; community gardens; an animal farm; a permaculture and bushfood nursery; and an organic market. Environmental education lies at the heart of CERES, which has grown from its humble beginnings into one of the largest sustainability education providers in Victoria. CERES Education provides a wide range of services to schools as well as sustainable living and gardening workshops for everyone, and overseas volunteering opportunities on sustainable projects.

There are many ways to get involved at CERES, from volunteering (check the volunteering page for opportunities), attending a workshop, community event or hiring one of many spots for your own event.

Change.org

Change.org is the world's largest petition platform, empowering people everywhere to create the change they want to see. There are more than 70 million Change.org users in 196 countries, and every day people use our tools to transform their communities – locally, nationally and globally. Whether it's a mother fighting bullying in her daughter's school, customers pressing banks to drop unfair fees, or citizens holding corrupt officials to account, thousands of campaigns started by people like you have won on Change.org – and more are winning every week.

Create your own petition on Change.org and get it out to the world. Sign and share environmental and social justice petitions.

Chilout

ChilOut wishes to place the issue of asylum seeking children into the realm of child’s rights and child protection. The decision of whether a child is found to be a refugee is an immigration issue: how that child is treated whilst awaiting the decision is a child protection issue. All children regardless of race, religion, class or immigration status should be covered by child protection laws. There should never be a loophole for child abuse or neglect. Our aim is to see Federal legislation enacted to ensure no child is detained in an Australian immigration detention centre for more than 14 days; and the appointment of an independent guardian for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Australia.

Find out how to host your own #freethechildren event with our DIY kit. See our website for questions you can ask your MP about children in detention. Share striking images from our gallery so that people are aware what's going on. If you're a student, take part in Detention for Detention.